He also accused one of the company's major shareholders, London City Equities, of trying to infiltrate the board.

Mr Trebeck said that the three new candidates are essentially their representatives.

That resulted in a fiery exchange between the new candidates and David Trebeck, with the new candidates making it very clear that they did not agree with his perception of them, and that they were very much independent.

However, shareholders overwhelmingly voted to retain Mr Trebeck and Andrew Fletcher, with more than three-quarters of votes cast going in their favour.

Mr Trebeck says the result was "emphatic".

"A total of around 65 per cent of the company's shares have been voted - this has been no mean feat given the dispersed nature of the register and its predominantly retail investor focus," he said in a statement after the meeting.

"Of those [votes cast], approximately 75 to 80 per cent have voted for the re-election of Andrew Fletcher and myself, and against the election of the other candidates."

After the meeting, Mr Trebeck called for the two-strike rule to be scrapped.

He says the process has been extremely time consuming and doubts it has served a purpose.

"It's been a damaging in the sense that we had to go through it," he said.

"I haven't particularly enjoyed it, the so-called badge of being the first company chairman to go through it but I think, I think we might emerge stronger."

Mike Carter was among the candidates challenging the leadership and says the result was "disappointing but overwhelming."

"[The incumbents] certainly had the large shareholders voting with them. I think it's a pity for the smaller shareholders," he said.

Penrice announced last week it will cease soda ash production at its Osborne plant and switch to distributing cheaper imports in July.

The compound is used to make glass and detergents and about 60 workers will lose their jobs if the decision to scrap production goes ahead.